Not just one, but two!

I'm sorry this blog is long over due, so many things have happened over the past two weeks.
On friday night we got a seven day old baby boy named Mathias. He is super precious but extremely small. He mother died giving birth to him and they have yet to locate his father. They have an idea who the father might be but he is denying it. So once Another Hope gets the funds they will have him get a DNA test.

Coming into this experience I assumed I would have to learn Lugandan, but I never thought I would have to learn another language on top on that. I get the awesome opportunity to learn sign language as well. Catherine, she is a beautiful ten year old girl who loves to play games, laugh and she is deaf. She was at school for my first month here, but now she is back for their holiday break. Everyday we go over a ton of different signs, probably for two hours. She would write down the words and then sign them and I would copy the sign back, or i would write down a word and she would sign back.The thing I love most about Catherine is her spunk. She loves pictures. The other day we spent two hours going through EVERY picture on my phone. She would sign and ask something about almost every picture. She wanted to know everyone's name, where the picture was taken, and just every other detail you can think of. The reason why she is at Another Hope is because her parents aren't together and she was living with her father who is a peasant farmer and couldn't afford to look after her. With the extreme cost to send Catherine to school ment she never attended school before she came to another hope. I feel so blessed to have the opportunity to learn both Lugandan and Sign Language, by no means is it easy but its AWESOME to be able to communicate with the children here!

Also over the past week and a half Prea (a volunteer from Australia), Elvis (17 year old who lives here at another Hope), Wasswa (19 year old who is a regular helper at Another Hope and is supported with school fees) and myself are designing and creating a fun babies play area. So far we have done the alphabet, numners and a tree with the children's hand prints as the leaves. It has been so much fun to watch the room come together, we still have to draw animals and flowers and make our centers. We are going to have a calendar and time/money center. So many fun things to create and make.

Thank you all so much for your continuous prayers, support and love. The Lord is faithful in all he does and I am continually amazed with all He is doing here at Another Hope and in the community.

With love from Uganda,
Nicole

So many firsts!

As I got to thinking, I realized I forgot to add a lot to me previous blog from last week...so now you get another blog!

So I found out I can receive mail and packages, if you have any interest the address is...
Nicole Holmes
C/O Nambowa Ruth Bulyaba
Another Hope Children's Ministry
P.O Box 28407
Kampala, Uganda, East Africa

Last week when I was with Sarah, we both experienced our first boda boda ride. This is like a taxi, but it is a motorcycle/moped, where is takes you anywhere you want to go for cheap. Sarah and I rode a couple miles and it cost us, together, 80 cents. I don't know any taxi in the states where you can just go a block for that cheap. While on our first boda boda ride I got the luxury of being in the middle and Sarah was on the back. Half of her was on the bike and half off. While we were on this Sarah was laughing the whole time and everytime we came up to a bump (which is about every twenty feet) she would start to freak out. We laughed all the way home, what a fun experience!

Also, last week I got the opportunity to try my first grasshopper. Yes, you read that correctly, grasshopper! I was extremely nervous to try, but it ended up tasting sweet...who would have thought that. I don't know if I would eat them again, but they didn't taste as bad as I thought.

On Friday Sarah and I atteneded a funeral here for the first time with Patrick. Here in Uganda once the person passes away they have a visual/funeral right after they pass for 24 to 48 hours where family, friends and people in the village come to pray and pay respect. On our way to the funeral Patrick asked if I wanted to drive, so needless to say I drove in Uganda! It was about 45mins away from Mityana, which was where I was staying at the time. Something to note is they drive on the other side of the road and most times when I say road, I mean a dirt filled REALLY bumpy road. Both were interesting, but good experiences!

On Monday I had the opportunity to make Mandazi for everyone, all 37 children and the staff. While I was in Mityana they taught me how to make them! Mandazi is similar to a donut. You use sugar, baking powder, flour and water to make the dough. Then you use oil on low to deep fry them.  The children LOVE these, but they don't have the  funds to make them often. To make them for all the children and staff (about 45 people) it cost 25000 shillings which is $10! It's crazy that such a little amount of money can make food for that many people.

This morning was I was talking with three of the older girls Annet 18, Ester 20 and Latisha 16 about dating and marriage. Latisha surprised me when she said, "As long as a man provides for me and shows me love, it doesnt matter how many wives he has." This really saddenes me to know that those are her expectations. If you grow up seeing that and experiencing your father do that, how are you supposed to know differently. It was really good to talk with the girls about their expectations and being able to talk about setting high expectations. If a man wants to marry you, he should marry only you. All other women should be off limits because he  found the one he wants to spend the rest of his life here on earth with. My prayer is that these children understand that there is no greater love then the Lord's. He is the only one that can show us that a man can be devoted to just one woman.

The two children I want to introduce you to are Hanifah, 3 and Habibah, 4. They are sisters that were dropped off by there 'neighbor' saying that there mother and father passed away. What actually happened was their mother dropped them off because she was being beaten, almost to death, by her husband/their father. She was on the run from him because he said he wanted to kill her and the two children, Hanifa and Habiba. They were EXTREMELY malnourished. When Hanifa came she looked like she was six months old, when in fact she was two years old. She wasn't walking at all and barely crawling. To see the joy that radiates through them now is so beautiful. God is at work in this place! It is awesome to see Habiba look after Hanifa, she is a very pretective older sister! They love each other a lot!

Thank you so much for being so supportive! I feel so loved by each and everyone of you! Prayers for the children to seek nourishment and healing from past scars. Also, for community members here in Kkona, that they would be able to experience the love that God has for them!

With love from Uganda,
Nicole